Pumpkin Doughnut Holes

I love doughnuts and pumpkin flavor so these pumpkin doughnut holes are a match made in heaven. I’ve made Mini Powdered Sugar Doughnut Muffins and German Chocolate Cake Doughnuts. Both were based on recipes from Sally at Sally’s Baking Addiction. (She has a bazillion awesome recipes so you have to go check her out if you haven’t already.) These pumpkin doughnut holes are also a variation from Sally. She’s officially my “doughnut baking guru.” 🙂 Thank you so much, Sally!

These doughnut holes are full of great pumpkin spice flavor and covered with cinnamon powdered sugar.

Pumpkin Doughnut Holes Recipe
(Makes 34 doughnut holes)

Ingredients For the Doughnut Holes:

1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 cup (equivalent to 1/2 stick) butter, melted

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 cup skim milk

Ingredients for the Cinnamon Powdered Sugar Coating:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Directions for the Doughnut Holes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease the doughnut hole pan and set it aside. *

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and nutmeg. Set the dry ingredients aside.

In a medium bowl, melt the butter and whisk together with brown sugar.

Stir in the egg, vanilla extract, pumpkin puree, and milk.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together until just combined.

Spoon the batter into the doughnut hole pan, filling it to the top (or about 3/4 full if you’re using a mini muffin pan).

Bake them for 12 – 14 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Directions for the Cinnamon Powdered Sugar Coating:

In a bowl, pour the powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Once the doughnut holes have cooled, dip them into the cinnamon powdered sugar.

* If you don’t have a doughnut hole pan then you can follow the same directions using a miniature muffin pan.

Store in an air tight container at room temperature or in a freezer friendly bag in the freezer.

I’ve seen bloggers post about recipes for “doughnut holes” using a mini muffin tin. I must be doing something wrong because mine never look round like theirs. Mine look like…wait for it, mini muffins. The perfectionist in me wants round ones, so I treated myself to King Arthur Flour’s Doughnut Hole Pan. You definitely don’t need a doughnut hole pan to make these fun pumpkin doughnut holes, but it sure makes them a nice and round.

It’s official. I am prejudice to butter based doughnuts. All three of my doughnut recipes get most of their fat from butter. I tried one random chocolate doughnut recipe that used oil instead of butter and it ended up not being good enough to bother posting about. I did not like them because they were greasy and weird. To make matters worse, the type of glaze that was paired with the recipe made them soggy and gross. In the end they went right to the garbage can.

These doughnut holes are the perfect flavored doughnut for this time of year. They have a hint of pumpkin flavor, but it’s their Fall-ish spices that give these bite size doughnuts their big flavor.

They’re a tad more dense than a vanilla or chocolate doughnut, but I find that’s pretty typical for a pumpkin-y treat. These are baked and not fried. That’s a good thing because it does save you a bit of calories. 😉 However, because they are baked that means that their texture will resemble a cake instead of a doughnut you would get at a shop. That doesn’t bother me in the slightest, but I thought I’d put it out there.

If you guys know me at all, you know my obsession for powdered sugar. Seriously, any excuse to use it and I’m there. My two young nephews take after me and love powdered sugar doughnuts. I added cinnamon to the powdered sugar to enhance the spice flavors of them. They were hit with the whole family and my nephews especially loved them. You could tell by all of the cinnamon powdered sugar that they left behind on the floor. 🙂

I’ll happily eat doughnuts anytime of the year, but for some reason they’re a comfort food that I crave during the colder months. Does anyone else feel the same way? Daylight savings time was put into law to make people fatter I think.

I am SO excited you made my pumpkin doughnut hole/mini muffins!! I simply love these and actually plan to make them next week to bring over to Kevin’s parents. They love them too. I am so happy that you love my doughnut recipes! Thank you for all the kind words. 🙂

Your future in-laws will love them. I know because I ate way more than I should have and they were a hit with my family. Plus, you’re an amazing baker. 🙂 I thank you so much for continuing to be my inspiration! 🙂

Oh my goodness Tina, I love the sound of these pumpkin donut holes and would surely eat a dozen at a time! They look incredible especially topped with the powdered sugar, yum – wish I had a batch of these for our breakfast this morning 🙂 Thanks for sharing, pinning! Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Hehe, the spelling was a requirement from my editor and husband extraordinaire. Truth be told I’m not one for “uni-tasker” gadgets in the kitchen. However, I could make countless donut hole recipes. So I’ll be getting a lot of use out of this pan and that’s what counts in the end for me. 🙂

I don’t suppose you live near San Francisco and could deliver a dozen of these to me? If not, then I’ll have to make them myself because I need them in my life ASAP! Thanks for sharing these tasty donut holes with us at Saturday Night Fever! (P.S. Gorgeous photos!)

Oh I love these! I love anything bite-sized. Theyre so great for parties. I cant believe I only discovered cinnamon sugar awhile back. What have I been doing with my life lol! So delicious, thanks for sharing x

You’re so right, I brought these to a family brunch and they were perfect to pop in your mouth. The only bad thing is that you’ve eaten like 10 of them before you realize you’ve eaten 10 of them. Whomp, whomp.
I’m obsessed with cinnamon powdered sugar (or really anything involving powdered sugar). 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!